Nostalgia essay: the transparent turnip of the hometown
Text: Yang Xiaoguang
This weekend, I went back to my hometown and saw the scene of turnips harvested in the field. Near the winter weather, on a large field, only the turnip field is a turquoise, and the radish tassels that proudly meet the frost show a heroic posture. However, when the agricultural machinery with a row of rotary cutting knives was passed, the radish tassels were cut and harvested, leaving only the white radishes everywhere, leaving them for manual plucking. This semi-mechanized way of producing radishes in the hometown effectively ensures that the harvested radish is not damaged, no omission, and the quality and quantity are guaranteed.
Touching the scenery, I can't help but think of when I was a child, together with my friends, because I stole the turnips of the production team, I was taken to the brigade by the members of the Youth Watching Society to "run a study class". The night before, we watched the North Korean movie "When the Apples Are Ripe" and looked at the bright red apples on the fruit trees on the screen and on the shelves, and we were hungry. I asked: What does apple taste like? Partners, you look at me, I look at you, big eyes and small eyes, just don't speak. No one has eaten it, and no one knows what the apple tastes like. So I was stunned and concluded: It is the big radish flavor of our production team.
One sentence aroused everyone's hunger. Apples are far away, turnips are close at hand. We looked at each other by digging wild vegetables in the field after school, and hula ran to the radish field of the production team. Before the "crime" had even begun, he was caught squarely by the members of the Youth Society. I didn't steal it into a turnip, I didn't even eat it for dinner. Hungry and grumbling, we stood in a row and recited the quote: "It's a good idea to run a study class."
Although my hometown of Changli County, Sunjiatuo, although it is only 10 to 15 miles away from Wuliying, Shilipu and Fenghuangshan in the northern mountains where grapes, apples and other fruits are produced, we did not have the opportunity to eat apples. At that time, there was no such developed logistics as now, and there was no courier brother who came at the moment, and the things sold on the set were all self-produced items in the village of Sajin, which belonged to "you have me and I have everything". Of course, fruits such as apples that grow in the mountains are just a myth for us.
Only the local autumn radish and the four seasons water radish are our seasonal "fruits". The shape of the water radish is coarse and long, from spring to autumn, with a red translucent skin and white water spirit flesh, the taste is crisp, sweet and slightly spicy, can be eaten directly as a fruit. Radish tassels rinsed with water can be eaten raw with sauce and chewed out with a mouthful of fragrance. Villagers describe a person who is tall and loves to end the shelf, saying that he "2 cents of water radish, take a handful".
"Head of radish two volts of vegetables, three volts of the head of buckwheat", this agricultural proverb is my hometown red skin and white heart of the big round radish. Every year after the summer solstice, counting to the third day of Geng, it is time to flatten the vegetables and plant turnips. The radish planted in the head can be plucked and eaten in the autumn. After a long summer and autumn, the radish seedlings are bathed in sunshine to moisturize the rain and dew, and the nutrients are stored, and the radish grows large and watery, growing into Mo Yan's "transparent carrot". At the turn of autumn and winter, the crops in the field are harvested, and the red turnips are proud of the wind and frost, showing a lot of vitality in the fields of Xiaoser.
Agricultural proverb cloud: frost fell radish to establish winter vegetables, light snow into the cellar without frost damage. Therefore, before the arrival of cold air, people should pluck the turnips from the field in time to take them home. Autumn radish is divided into carrots, green radishes and carrots, all of which can be stored in the vegetable cellar as winter storage vegetables and used as edible vegetables throughout the winter. In a few years, our production team has also planted sweet radish and supplied it to Changli County Sugar Factory to produce edible sugar.
Among the autumn radish grown in the hometown, the green radish that can be eaten raw as a fruit is a rare variety. It has a green skin and purple core, a round shape like a fat beauty, the color inside is bright after cutting, and it is permeated with a sense of auspicious joy, commonly known as "heart beauty", a bite is crunchy, eating to the mouth sweet silk, spicy taste is still small. Cut into thin strips, mixed with sugar, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and a plate of refreshing and greasy appetizers, it is a must-have cold dish for guests to entertain guests.
"Eat turnips in winter and eat ginger in summer, without a doctor prescribing medicine." Many people have a special love for eating radish, in addition to the gastronomic factors of radish, but also pay special attention to its unique effects. Scientific research has proved that radish is rich in vitamin C and trace element zinc, which helps to enhance the body's immunity and ability to resist diseases; the mustard oil contained can accelerate gastrointestinal peristalsis, help digestion, and promote appetite; amylase can decompose starch and fat in food and make it fully and effectively absorbed; the lignin contained can enhance the vitality of macrophages. In addition, radish contains a variety of enzymes that can also break down carcinogenic nitrite amines. As the old saying goes, "Fish make fire and phlegm, radish cabbage keeps safe", people are used to treating radish as a "peace dish", it is not too much.
Nowadays, the food on people's tables is rich and diverse, and in winter, radish cabbage is no longer a must-eat "home dish" every day, but I still like to eat some radish balls and radish soup from time to time, and the radish stew beef is full of mouth. Because, that's a great memory on my taste buds. Radish and the food made with it are not only delicious food, but also contain the taste of human feelings, the taste of hometown, and the taste of memory.
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